Mother convicted in Medicaid time-sheet fraud

A Swanton woman has been convicted of Medicaid fraud and ordered to serve prison time after she submitted false time sheets claiming three employees had provided personal care services to her children.

Karen Tucker pleaded guilty and was convicted of four counts of Medicaid fraud Wednesday, the Vermont Attorney General's Office said in a statement Friday.

Prosecutors alleged Tucker hired three employees to care for her children through the Medicaid Children's Personal Care Services program, then submitted false time sheets and split the proceeds with the employees.

Tucker's children were in foster care for much of the time she claimed they were receiving care, an investigator wrote in court documents.

"It was one of the largest cases of this type we have prosecuted," said Assistant Attorney General Jason Turner, who estimated the state prosecuted 10 to 15 personal care Medicaid fraud cases in the past year.

Tucker has been ordered to pay more than $96,000 in restitution to the state Medicaid program. She was sentenced to four to eight years in prison but could serve just one year and then qualify for a substance abuse treatment program and probation and parole, Turner said.

No listed telephone number for Tucker could be found. Her attorney, Elizabeth Kruska, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The three women Tucker hired — Pauline Gaboury of Essex Junction, Christy Richard of St. Albans and Katherine Tucker of Milton — each pleaded guilty earlier this year to misdemeanor charges of false pretenses, according to prosecutors. They received suspended sentences and probation and were required to pay restitution to the Medicaid program.

Related charges against a fifth woman, Julie Bushey of Highgate, are pending.

Prosecutors uncovered the case after one of the children noticed a fraudulent time sheet, an investigator wrote in court documents. Turner urged Medicaid beneficiaries to read statements of benefits and be aware of what is being billed in their name.

This story was first posted online on Aug. 19, 2016. Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AprilBurbank.

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